subtle
thin, tenuous, or rarefied, as a fluid or an odor.
fine or delicate in meaning or intent; difficult to perceive or understand: subtle irony.
delicate or faint and mysterious: a subtle smile.
requiring mental acuteness, penetration, or discernment: a subtle philosophy.
characterized by mental acuteness or penetration: a subtle understanding.
cunning, wily, or crafty: a subtle liar.
insidious in operation: subtle poison.
skillful, clever, or ingenious: a subtle painter.
Origin of subtle
1Other words for subtle
Other words from subtle
- sub·tle·ness, noun
- sub·tly, adverb
- hy·per·sub·tle, adjective
- hy·per·sub·tle·ness, noun
- non·sub·tle, adjective
- non·sub·tle·ness, noun
- o·ver·sub·tle, adjective
- pseu·do·sub·tle, adjective
- un·sub·tle, adjective
- un·sub·tle·ness, noun
Words Nearby subtle
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use subtle in a sentence
On a per-million basis, the United States’ position in 11th place goes to 15th — a slight but subtle improvement.
An only-red-states America probably isn’t one Trump would actually like | Philip Bump | September 17, 2020 | Washington PostThat led Connecticut’s governor to make a subtle, but crucial, change to the state’s election rules on the day before the election.
Facebook’s Political Ad Ban Also Threatens Ability to Spread Accurate Information on How to Vote | by Jeremy B. Merrill for ProPublica | September 4, 2020 | ProPublicaThe answer is almost certainly yes, given another subtle change the company made in its amended filing today.
In amended filing, Palantir admits it won’t have independent board governance for up to a year | Danny Crichton | September 3, 2020 | TechCrunchWhat’s subtle is that an equivalence between two objects should be recorded as additional data.
Conducting the Mathematical Orchestra From the Middle | Rachel Crowell | September 2, 2020 | Quanta MagazineInsider threats, where a company’s own employee carries out a cyberattack against it, are an especially pernicious and subtle form of hacking.
How a $1 million plot to hack Tesla failed | Patrick O'Neill | August 28, 2020 | MIT Technology Review
Again, the difference can seem subtle and sound more like splitting hairs, but the difference is important.
How Skinny Is Too Skinny? Israel Bans ‘Underweight’ Models | Carrie Arnold | January 8, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTAt that time, pre -9/11, the links were more subtle and had to be hunted down.
ISIS, Boko Haram, and the Growing Role of Human Trafficking in 21st Century Terrorism | Louise I. Shelley | December 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHammerstein continued his subtle quest for racial equanimity in Oklahoma!
When Broadway Musicals Were Dark And Subversive | Laurence Maslon | December 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIn recent days, there has been a subtle feeling of defeat permeating through the camp.
Vreeland believes that in the end, his grandmother put her subtle seal of approval on his lifestyle.
Her voice was stern; it bore to the girl's ears a subtle, unworded repetition of the threat the Marquise had already voiced.
St. Martin's Summer | Rafael SabatiniIt was a curious moment, charged with a subtle perplexity of emotions none of them quite understood.
The Wave | Algernon BlackwoodIt was the spiritual way, whose method and secret lie in that subtle paradox: Yield to conquer.
The Wave | Algernon BlackwoodA subtle current of desire passed through her body, weakening her hold upon the brushes and making her eyes burn.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories | Kate ChopinThe champagne was cold, and its subtle fumes played fantastic tricks with Edna's memory that night.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories | Kate Chopin
British Dictionary definitions for subtle
/ (ˈsʌtəl) /
not immediately obvious or comprehensible
difficult to detect or analyse, often through being delicate or highly refined: a subtle scent
showing or making or capable of showing or making fine distinctions of meaning
marked by or requiring mental acuteness or ingenuity; discriminating
delicate or faint: a subtle shade
cunning or wily: a subtle rogue
operating or executed in secret: a subtle intrigue
Origin of subtle
1Derived forms of subtle
- subtleness, noun
- subtly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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